1 Making Effec tive Change: SOCIAL MOVEMENT ORGANIZING & ACTIVISM

Social movements don’t just happen. They emerge in complex, often subtle ways out of shifting historic conditions, at first unnoticed or underestimated. Social movements--across the political spectrum--push us to examine a wide array of questions about ideas, communication and organization, and how people are inspired and mobilized to create change. In this program, we will explore what individuals and communities can do about whatever issues are of most concern to them. This program will examine methods of community organizing that educate and draw people into social movements, and methods of activism that can turn their interests and commitment into effective action. Key to this will be how movements construct and frame their strategies, using a toolkit of tactics. Our foundation will be the contemporary U.S. scene, but we’ll draw on historical roots and lessons from the past, as well as on models from other countries and efforts at international solidarity. It will be crucial for us to look at contexts of global, national and regional movements, and how they shape (and are shaped by) events at the local scale. During winter quarter, we’ll explore the ways that movements emerge and grow, focusing on themes that cut across organizations, and developing practical skills centered on these themes. Our discussions will include how movements reflect and tell people’s stories (through interviews, theater, etc.). Central to our work will be an examination of ways to communicate with people from different walks of life, using accessible language an